December meet and greet - Severn River

[J.A. Veil]

Now that the November meet and greet has concluded successfully, I am posting the first announcement for the December meet and greet. Here are the main points.

When: Sat Dec 13, 7:00 to 1:00

Where: The main location is Jonas Green park. This is located underneath the Rt 450 bridge that crosses the Severn River near the Naval Academy. There are at least three other access points to the Severn River near Annapolis: 1) Tucker St ramp in west Annapolis that leads into Weems Creek; 2) Truxton Park that leads into Spa Creek; and 3) Ellen Moyer Water Park that leads into Spa Creek. Note that trailers may not be parked at Jonas Green or Tucker St launch points. The Ellen Moyer park has a very small parking area and no formal launch ramp. There is an inclined ramp covered with plastic plates for sliding a kayak into the water but no access for a trailer to that ramp.

What Fish Are Around in the Severn then? Pickerel are available in the shallow water sections in any of the nearby tributaries (creeks, tidal ponds). They are unlikely to be found in the main river. Stripers may be around for trollers (???) or for jigging on structure (debris piles, bridge pilings). You may find an occasional white or yellow perch, but these are not common during December.

Lunch: At 1:00, we will meet for lunch at Red, Hot & Blue barbecue restaurant at the Bay Dale Drive exit off of Rt 50 east of Annapolis. http://redhotandblue.com/annapolis/.

Note: The water will be quite cold by then. Anyone choosing to fish that day should plan carefully to wear appropriate protective gear.

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Anyone interested should reply with their intention to fish and/or come to the lunch that day.

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Sign Up List - this is no longer updated -- see the other post for latest sign-up info

J.A. Veil fish (JG) and lunch
Mark fish (JG) and lunch
MDDore fish (JG) and lunch
coop1486 fish and lunch
DaveO lunch only
jaspratt fish (JG) and lunch + guest for lunch
Pc4sun fish and lunch
bunnielab fish (JG)
jrentch lunch only
Raptor fish (JG) and lunch

[Mark]

I'm in for fishing and lunch.

Thank you,

[J.A. Veil]

I am bringing this thread back to the top. The December meet and greet on the Severn River is just over two weeks away. I have done some scouting over the last month and have found pickerel in all 7 Severn tributaries I have tried so far. Mark fished with me several times, and I have seen other Snaggedline members on the water too. They have caught pickerel too. I even caught one fat yellow perch in my outings. Each of these tributaries is easily reachable from either the Tucker St ramp (Weems Creek) or Jonas Green by pedal or paddle kayak. I have not fished in Spa Creek or in Back creek, but both of them should hold pickerel too. Those two creeks can be reached by launches at Truxton Park (Spa Creek) and Ellen Moyer Water Park (Back Creek). There may be stripers holding on bridge pilings or debris piles near Jonas Green, but I have not spent time looking for them yet.

There are plenty of other tributaries in the river that should hold fish, but the issue is water access. Some of our members may have community water privileges to get farther upstream or in Whitehall Bay into good pickerel waters, and others may elect to pay $20 to launch at Smith's Marina in Crownsville.

Please sign up if you plan to fish (if you know already, indicate from which place you plan to launch) and if you plan to join the group for lunch at Red, Hot & Blue restaurant afterwards.

[Mark]

The pickerel are definitely present in the Severn tributaries in both quantity and size. Many places are textbook pickerel habitat. In fact when you get into the back reaches of some of the creeks, it's hard to believe you're in Annapolis or its suburbs. It's quite rural in some areas.

They are lots of fun to catch and often give you the thrill in the present clear water conditions of actually seeing them strike your bait. (They can also frustrate you by following your bait back to the kayak and not striking it. You'll see that clearly too!)

As John stated above the Severn offers many locations to catch them. I've hooked them in four different tributaries so far.

Despite their savage appearance their hits are rather subtle and you'll feel a heaviness on your line more than a hard strike when you hook one. The larger ones are hard to reel in once hooked on light tackle. Bring your grippers (or jaw expanders) and pliers because they do have sharp teeth.

I'm going to launch at Jonas because it gives me convenient access to several different areas where I know they are present.

And I am looking forward very much to the corn chowder at Red Hot and Blue afterward.

I hope many of you will be there too.

[bunnielab]

If I can get my cold weather gear sorted out I am in.

I am not sure where I would launch, JG is the most convenient for sure but my paddling range is still limited so a launch on the other side of the river might be better.

[J.A. Veil]

Manresa Cove is a short paddle upstream on the same side of the river as Jonas Green. Winchester Pond and Cool Spring Cove are not much farther. Unless you are fighting a strong head wind, these are very reachable locations.

[BeyondTheBounds]

Bummer same day as Delaware paddles ports tournament........12 months in a year though!

[MD Dore]

Count me in for fishing and lunch. I plan to launch from JGP.

[coop1486]

Iam in for both.

[dtandrade]

Asked for most of my cold gear for christmas or else I would be there!

[YakCapn]

What's the best lure to use for pickerel? Spoons? What size?

[Mark]

YakCapn,

I think the best "lure" is a live minnow.

But I've caught mine this year and last on 1/8 oz. jigs with 3 inch Mr. Twister tails. I've used Blakemore Roadrunners and plain jigs. The jig heads have been chartreuse or white and the trailers either white, green or chartreuse. I've also caught two on a hand-tied white 1/8 oz. jig head with a yellow marabou tail.

I've also caught some on small Rapala Countdown Minnows in black and silver and in chartreuse. However, the pickerel have a knack for tossing them. I don't know how they dislodge two treble hooks but they do so more than when I hook them with single hook jig.

I suspect they would hit spoons. But you need to mindful of the weight of your lure. I tried running 1/4 oz. jig heads and they were too heavy for the shallow waters of the Severn's tributaries where the pickerel reside.

Also, I think a Clouser Minnow on a fly rod with floating line would be a good choice for the areas in question.

[YakCapn]

Thanks Mark, great info. I haven't tried fly fishing yet from my yak, but maybe this will be the chance.

[DaveO]

I haven't the cold weather gear for fishing; however, I am in for lunch to finally meet some of you. Particularly those who have given me so much to work with on my first fishing kayak.

[Romo]

My favorite way to fish pickerel is the same way I fish snakeheads. A weightless zoom super fluke with an offset bass hook. You can throw it into anything including thick weeds where they love to lay and you can work it across the top, let it sink into holes and even fish it like a subsurface twitch bait. If you need to get deeper get some bass hooks with a little weight molded onto the hook shank. No treble hooks to deal with and a pretty good hookup rate. Just make sure to bring a couple bags because they reallllly shred them.